IN THIS ISSUE:
LAW BULLETIN Vermont Law School has selected Carol Browner, former Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, as the Fall
2014 Distinguished Environmental Law Scholar.
As EPA administrator, Browner adopted the
most stringent air pollution standards in the
nation’s history; set a fine particle clean air
standard; and spearheaded the reauthorization
of the Safe Drinking Water Act as well as the
Food Quality Protection Act. She was known
for working with both environmentalists and
industry to set scientific-based public health
protections while providing businesses
important flexibilities in how to meet those
standards.
Browner is now Senior Counselor
at Albright Stonebridge Group and a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center
for American Progress. She served as the
Director of the White House Office of Energy
and Climate Change Policy in the Obama
administration from 2009 to 2011, where she
oversaw the coordination of environmental,
energy, climate, transport, and related policy
across the
federal government.
Browner will
deliver the keynote
address at Vermont
Law School’s Fifth
Annual Colloquium on Environmental Scholarship
on October 3–4,
2014. b
CAROL BROWNER SELECTED AS VLS FALL 2014 DISTINGUISHED ENVIRONMENTAL LAW SCHOLAR
disaster and preserve American prosperity.
He works to promote economic development
and environmental protection in California,
and serves on the board at Stanford
University, where he and his wife, Kat Taylor,
founded two renewable energy research
institutions: the TomKat Center for Sustainable
Energy and the Steyer-Taylor Center for
Energy Policy and Finance. The couple is
among several high-wealth Americans to join
the “Giving Pledge,” a promise to donate the
majority of their wealth to charitable and
nonprofit activities during their lifetimes.
Steyer also established Advanced Energy
Economy, which works with businesses to
make energy secure, clean and affordable,
and Next Generation, which addresses energy
and children’s policy issues.
Investor, philanthropist, and advanced
energy advocate Tom Steyer delivered a
lecture titled “Climate Solutions—Building a
Clean Energy
Future” at VLS
in May. Steyer,
who received
VLS’s 2014
Honorary
Degree for the
Environment
during
Commencement,
is the founder of
NextGen Climate,
an organization
that acts
politically to
avert climate
NEXTGEN CLIMATE FOUNDER TOM STEYER DELIVERS CLIMATE SOLUTIONS LECTURE AT VLS
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w.ve
rmon
tlaw.
edu/
elc
Center for Agriculture and Food Systems
Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic
Environmental Tax Policy Institute
Institute for Energy and the Environment
Land Use Institute
U.S.-Asia Partnerships for Environmental Law
Water and Justice Program
❯ From the Associate Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
❯ ENRLC Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2–3
❯ VLS: Bee Friendly Campus . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
❯ CAFS and NOFA Receive USDA Grant . . . . 4
❯ Student in the Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
❯ Expanding into New Food Horizons . . . . . . 5
❯ Energy Clinic Solar Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
❯ Expanded Distance Learning Offerings . . . 6
❯ VLS: Electric Vehicle Charging Leader . . . . . . . .6
❯ VLS/Zhongnan University Partnership . . . . . . . .7
❯ Jessica Scott: New Visiting Professor . . . . . . . .8
❯ U.S.-Asia Partnerships New Name/Focus . . . . .8
❯ Environmental Faculty News . . . . . . . . . . . 9–10
❯ Summer Session By the Numbers . . . . . . . . . . 11
❯ Summer Faculty News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
❯ VLS Environmental Alumni Newsfeed . . . . . . .12
❯ Fall 2014 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Last year, the Environmental Law Institute
presented Steyer with its Environment
Achievement Award in recognition of his
leadership in clean energy and climate change
policy. He shared the award with George
Schultz, former secretary of the treasury
and secretary of state, with whom he created
a bipartisan coalition to defeat California’s
Proposition 23, an effort by out-of-state
oil companies to dismantle California’s
groundbreaking clean energy law.
“Tom Steyer is a true trailblazer when it
comes to energy and climate,” said Associate
Dean Melissa Scanlan, director of the
Environmental Law Center at VLS. “We were
pleased to welcome him to the Vermont Law
School community, and to recognize his
commitment to a clean energy future with our
honorary degree.” b
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER
Tom Steyer
Carol Browner
GREETINGS FROM VERMONT
As we are in the midst of harvest season, Vermont Law School is excited to unveil the most comprehensive food, agriculture, and environmental law program in the country . We are offering a new LLM in Food and Agriculture Law and a Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy (pending ABA acquiescence), along with a new Certificate in Food and Agriculture Law for our JD and master’s students . We have grown our residential and distance learning curriculum and now offer 12 courses in this emerging field . A hallmark of a Vermont Law School education is that it is experiential . This fall we enrolled our first students in a new Food and Agriculture Clinic on campus, which is dedicated to food systems advocacy . We received a generous grant from the U .S . Department of Agriculture to provide legal and technical support to farmers’ markets . We also have students in our Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic helping defend Vermont’s first-in-the-nation GMO labeling law . And some sweet news: The Center for Food Safety has declared VLS the first official “bee-friendly” campus in the nation! I hope you’ll enjoy reading about the many ways Vermont Law School is working to develop the next generation of sustainable food and agriculture law and policy leaders . Bon appétit!
Melissa K . Scanlan
FROM THE ASSOCIATE DEAN
This summer, one of the Environmental
and Natural Resources Law Clinic’s primary
projects entered a new phase after a
significant victory in the spring. For the
past couple of years, the clinic has been
representing the Vermont Public Interest
Research Group (VPIRG) in legal advocacy
toward passage of a labeling bill for genetically
engineered foods (GE) in Vermont. The clinic
provided a comprehensive legal research
memo, testimony, and several binders of
factual materials to the Vermont legislature
during the last biennial session. This gave
student clinicians the opportunity to testify
before House and Senate committees, interact
with state officials, and work closely on a
broad-based legislative campaign with our
client and other partners—Rural Vermont,
Northeast Organic Farming Association
of Vermont, and Cedar Circle Farm. Both
chambers of the Vermont legislature passed
the bill by wide margins and, in May,
Governor Peter Shumlin signed
the bill into law. This made
Vermont the first state in
the nation to require labels
on GE foods, with labels
required by 2016.
However, the fight is not
over. As expected, several
industry groups sued the state
claiming that the law was
unconstitutional. They filed
the suit in June and, in July,
the Clinic filed a Motion to
Intervene in the case. Along
with co-counsel from the
Center for Food Safety (CFS), the
clinic is representing VPIRG and CFS in this
endeavor. In addition to VPIRG’s tireless work
in Vermont, CFS has been a national leader on
GE labeling for many years.
Over the summer, the clinician team of
Marie Horbar ’15, Yahan Liu ’16, and Katherine
Michel ’15 worked to produce the Motion,
Memorandum, and various other documents
associated with the filing, and then filed
the documents at the federal courthouse
in Rutland. Laura Murphy, the ENRLC’s
Associate Director, said, “With this filing, we’re
very proud to take our first step in defending
Vermont’s law. We’ve seen GE labeling this far
and aren’t going to give up now—it’s a strong
law that deserves protection.”
As of this writing, the briefing schedule
was still open and the Judge had
not ruled on the Motion. b
2
CLINIC DEFENDS VERMONT’S NEW GE LABELING LAW
MELISSA SCANLAN Associate Dean, Associate Professor, and Director [email protected]
ANNE LINEHAN Associate Director [email protected]
COURTNEY COLLINS Assistant Director [email protected]
The mission of the Environmental Law Center is to educate for stewardship, to teach an awareness of underlying environmental issues and values, to provide a solid knowledge of environmental law, and to develop skills to administer and improve environmental policy.
© 2014 Vermont Law School Environmental Law Center Edited by: Anne Linehan | Design: Wetherby Design | 09/14, 1.25K Photographs by: Courtney Collins, Laura Murphy, Anne Linehan, Melissa Scanlan, Austin Cheley, istockphoto.com
Printing: R.C. Brayshaw & Company, Inc., environmentally certified to the Forest Stewardship Council Standard. Printed on 100-lb. Mohawk Options PC 100 text. This paper is manufactured entirely with non-polluting, wind-generated energy, using 100% post-consumer recycled fiber, is Process Chlorine-Free, and is certified by Green Seal and SmartWood to the Forest Stewardship Council Standard.
This is a publication of the Environmental Law Center. We welcome your questions, comments, corrections, article proposals, and updates.
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER Vermont Law School 164 Chelsea Street South Royalton, VT 05068 800-227-1395 802-831-1140 fax www.vermontlaw.edu/elc
P U B L I C A T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N
“ WITH THIS FILING, WE’RE VERY PROUD TO TAKE OUR FIRST STEP IN DEFENDING VERMONT’S LAW. WE’VE SEEN GE LABELING THIS FAR AND AREN’T GOING TO GIVE UP NOW—IT’S A STRONG LAW THAT DESERVES PROTECTION.”
—LAURA MURPHY, Associate Director, ENRLC
Alexis Peters, Amanda Langenheim, and Marissa Meredyth visit impaired streams
This summer, the ENRLC represented
the Vermont Natural Resources Council
(VNRC) in the appeal of three stormwater
discharge permits issued to Jay Peak Resort.
The streams around Jay Peak, a ski resort
in northern Vermont, have been impaired
by sediment for at least a decade. With this
appeal, VNRC hopes to ensure that impaired
streams are adequately remediated before
additional permits for new development and
additional stormwater discharges are issued
at Jay Peak.
Throughout the summer, the clinician
team of Amanda Langenheim ’16, Marissa
Meredyth ’14, Alexis Peters ’16, and Rachel
Stewart ’16 drafted memoranda and pleadings;
participated in client meetings and case
development; and conducted extensive
research on the Clean Water Act, the Vermont
Water Pollution Control Act, and Vermont
stormwater regulations. b
REMEDIATION OF VERMONT’S IMPAIRED WATERS
E N V I R O N M E N T A L L A W B U L L E T I N F A L L 2 0 1 4 W W W . V E R M O N T L A W . E D U / E L C 3
Vermont Law School has partnered with
the Center for Food Safety’s BEE Protective
Campaign, making it the first higher-education
campus in the country to earn official
neonicotinoid pesticide-free designation.
“Honey bees and other pollinators play
a critical role in agricultural systems,” said
Professor Laurie Ristino, director of the
Center for Agriculture and Food Systems
(CAFS). “Protecting their health and safety
is a reflection of Vermont Law School’s
commitment to the environment and CAFS’
mission to support sustainable food and
agricultural systems. We hope more will
follow our lead.”
The law school’s partnership with BEE
Protective follows an Obama administration
directive, announced in June, to create a
“Federal Strategy to Promote the Health
of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.” The
presidential memorandum reports that
“pollinators contribute substantially to the
economy of the United States and are vital
to keeping fruits, nuts, and vegetables in our
diets. Honey bee pollination alone adds more
than $15 billion in value to agricultural crops
each year in the United States. Over the past
few decades, there has been a significant loss
of pollinators, including honey bees, native
bees, birds, bats, and butterflies, from the
environment.”
BEE Protective is a national campaign
established by the Center for Food Safety
THE BEE’S KNEES: VLS IS THE 1ST OFFICIAL BEE-FRIENDLY CAMPUS IN THE NATION
“ HONEY BEES AND OTHER POLLINATORS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS. PROTECTING THEIR HEALTH AND SAFETY IS A REFLECTION OF VERMONT LAW SCHOOL’S COMMITMENT TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND CAFS’ MISSION TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS. WE HOPE MORE WILL FOLLOW OUR LEAD.”
—LAURIE RISTINO, Director, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems
and Beyond Pesticides, and works with
municipalities, campuses, and homeowners to
adopt policies that protect pollinators
from bee-toxic pesticides. For more
information about the campaign,
visit http://bit.ly/1kp3gSV. b
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture has awarded the
Center for Agriculture and
Food Systems (CAFS) at
Vermont Law School and
the Northeast Organic
Farming Association
of Vermont (NOFA-VT)
a $500,000 grant to
strengthen farmers’ market
organizations through legal
education.
Awarded by the USDA’s
National Institute of Food and
Agriculture, the Agriculture and Food
Research Initiative grant enables CAFS and
NOFA-VT to create “Farmers’ Market Legal
Research and Extension.” The integrated
research and extension project is designed
to build stronger market organizations by
developing a legal resources toolkit for market
organizers and educating them on complex
legal issues facing farmers’ markets.
Phases of the project are established
for the next four years and include the
development of toolkit resources in three
USDA AWARDS $500,000 TO VLS FOR FARMERS’ MARKET PROJECTareas: year one, governance; year
two, liabilities related to the use
of Electronic Benefits Transfer
and Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP)
tokens; and year three,
general risk management.
Year four is dedicated
to toolkit training for
farmers’ market organizers
nationwide. CAFS and NOFA-
VT have partnered with the
Farmers Market Coalition to take
advantage of its national network of
farmers’ market leaders and communications
resources to disseminate the toolkit across the
country.
“We are grateful for this USDA grant, as it
will directly benefit not only farmers’ markets
in our region but also across the country,” said
CAFS Director Laurie Ristino. “We’re eager to
begin our research and stakeholder outreach
to farmers and farmers’ market administrators,
and we look forward to collaborating with the
Northeast Organic Farming Association of
Vermont.”
V E R M O N T L A W S C H O O L4
As part of
the extension
work, NOFA-VT
plans to gather
information
directly from
farmers’ markets,
pilot toolkit
resources at
annual marketing
conferences,
and assist CAFS
in training
farmers’ market
organizers.
“The Northeast Organic Farming
Association of Vermont is very excited to be
a partner in this important work providing
robust legal resources for farmers’ markets
to increase their stability, which in turn has
the potential to improve direct-to-consumer
sales for hundreds of Vermont agricultural
producers,” said Erin Buckwalter, NOFA-VT
market development and community food
security coordinator. b
BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM: KATIE MICHEL ’15 Katie Michel embodies the mission of the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at Vermont Law School: to develop the next generation of sustainable food and agriculture law and policy leaders . With her background managing farmers’ markets in California, and her hands-on experience and scholarship at VLS, she is on track to make a real difference . “I hope to use the law as a tool to help build an equitable and environmentally-sound food system in the United States,” she says . Katie completed her Master of Environmental Law and Policy degree at VLS before joining the first class of students pursuing an accelerated JD degree . She earned her BA degree in Literature from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2003 . At VLS, she spent the summer of 2014 as a clinician at the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic . She is also a research associate at CAFS, where she is writing a white paper on legal issues pertaining to farmers’ market governance, and with the Water and Justice Program, where she wrote a research paper on federal programs that provide financial support and technical assistance for trail projects . Professor Laurie Ristino is the director of CAFS . “Katie is a wonderful example of the students that come to VLS and become involved with CAFS,” Ristino says . “She has experience growing organic food for direct marketing and a deep interest in making agriculture sustainable . Students like Katie help make the Center a rich educational experience .” Katie is the staff editor of the Vermont Law Review, and she has two articles forthcoming: “Landless: Legal and Policy Tools for Transferring Vermont Farmland to the Next Generation of Stewards and Food Producers,” in 39 VT. L. REV. (Dec . 2014) and “Carbon Trading in the United States,” in Research Handbook on Climate Change Mitigation Law (Geert Van Calster & WimVandenberghe eds .), which she co-authored with Ristino . For three years before coming to VLS, Katie was the Farmers’ Market Operations Manager at the Ecology Center in Berkeley, CA, where she oversaw operations of four award-winning farmers’ markets . She also worked for the City and County of San Francisco, assisting in the management of the historic Alemany Farmers’ Market and the Alemany Flea Market . Before working for farmers’ markets, she was a field worker and farming apprentice at the Blue Horse Farm, a small-scale organic farm in Pescadero, CA . b
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
“ I HOPE TO USE THE LAW AS A TOOL TO HELP BUILD AN EQUITABLE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY-SOUND FOOD SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES.”
This summer, Assistant Professor
Jamie Renner taught a new class on
Global Food Security to law and master’s
degree students from Brazil, China,
Switzerland, Canada, and the U.S. Nation-
wide, only a handful of law schools
address this multidimensional subject
matter. The course explored how food
security is defined and measured for
policy purposes; its international legal
dimensions; comparative domestic law
and policy matters; the financialization
of food and farming; farming technology,
biotechnology (GMOs) and intellectual
property rights; the right to food; and the
complex impact of climate change on food
and water security worldwide. Guest speakers included a Food Security
Analyst from the United Nations World Food Programme, a former
nine-year South African Member of Parliament and water security
expert, the Director of Public Affairs at the Vermont Foodbank, the
Director of Scientific Engagement at Monsanto, and a Nigerian human
rights attorney who was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2005.
This fall, Renner will spearhead a new Food and Agriculture Clinic for VLS’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. It will be one of
the first law school clinics in the country dedicated to food systems
advocacy with a focus on environmental sustainability, public health,
rural economies, food access, and animal welfare. Students in the
clinic will collaborate with local, regional, national, and international
partners to create legal and business tools supporting targeted market
and policy initiatives of farmers, food entrepreneurs, consumers,
healthcare professionals, legislators, and advocates, among others.
Students will also explore incorporating social entrepreneurial
strategies into their advocacy. For its first project, driven by a $500,000
USDA grant, the clinic will partner with the Northeast Organic Farming
Association of Vermont and the national Farmers’ Market Coalition
to produce Farmers’ Market Toolkits—guides that will help farmers’
market leaders nation-wide navigate common but complicated
business and legal choices regarding governance, risk
management, and the use of SNAP/EBT
systems. Other impending clinic
projects include land tenure, food
labeling, Community Supported
Agriculture, and industrial
animal agriculture. b
EXPANDING INTO NEW FOOD HORIZONS
Jamie Renner
E N V I R O N M E N T A L L A W B U L L E T I N F A L L 2 0 1 4 W W W . V E R M O N T L A W . E D U / E L C 5
VLS energy students at the Solarfest event in Vermont
VLS is offering two new degrees and a
new area of study in our online program. We
launched the Master of Energy Regulation and
Law (MERL) and LLM in Energy Law degrees
online in May, 2014. Also in May, we added a
concentration in Agriculture and Food Systems
law and policy to existing online degrees.
The MERL and Energy LLM programs
offer intensive training in the law and
policy governing energy use, production,
and transmission. “We have already seen
the success of these degrees among our
residential students,” said Michael Dworkin, Director of the Institute for Energy and the
Environment. “But we recognize that some
students can’t spend a year studying in South
Royalton. We look forward to students taking
some or all of their degree from a distance,
while continuing their professional lives
around the globe.”
Simultaneously, the law school added a
new concentration in food and agriculture
law and policy for students in the online
LLM in Environmental Law and Master of
Environmental Law and Policy degree programs.
EXPANDED DISTANCE LEARNING OFFERINGS IN ENERGY AND FOOD AND AGRICULTURE LAW
The Center for Agriculture and Food
Systems (CAFS) is adding four new online
courses to a suite of five summer classes and
a list of courses offered during the academic
year as part of a comprehensive curriculum.
“We’re building a strong, innovative
curriculum in food and agriculture law and
policy,” said Laurie Ristino, Director of
CAFS. “The addition of online courses allows
students flexibility to take a comprehensive
course of study in food and agriculture law
and policy online, or mix and match with our
residential offerings. This way we can provide
the best program for individual students.”
“Once again, Vermont Law School is
leading the way in developing unique and
flexible curriculum,” said Rebecca Purdom, Associate Dean of Innovation and New
Programs. “VLS students have always been
out in the field, busy living and doing. Our
distance learning programs, which can
be taken completely online or mixed with
residential experiences, provide those busy,
living, doing students a chance to get the best
education that fits their lives and goals.” b
V E R M O N T L A W S C H O O L6
Vermont Law School is now the Vermont
leader in electric vehicle charging access at
a single commercial location. Recently, with
the support of the VLS Green Revolving Loan
Fund, a new Chargepoint dual EV charging
station was energized on campus. In total, the
law school now has seven publicly available EV
charging ports. The charging infrastructure is
all grouped together in a convenient location
across from the main classroom building. A
AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING LEADERcolorful variety of Chevy Volts, Nissan Leafs,
Toyota Prius, and Ford C-Max belonging to
faculty, staff, and students regularly recharge
on campus. Occasionally, a yellow Tesla
Roadster has even been spotted. Twenty-
three kW of new solar PV was also recently
installed on campus in conjunction with the
charging stations to further green our campus
footprint. b
NEW ENERGY CLINIC FOCUSES ON COMMUNITY SOLARIn the fall 2014 semester, VLS’s Institute for Energy and the Environment launched what is believed to be the first energy clinic at a law school in the U .S . The new Energy Clinic provides opportunities for JD, LLM, and masters students to develop the knowledge, skills, and values integral to the practice of energy law and policy while helping our clients meet local energy needs with reliable, clean, and affordable resources . Energy Clinicians will undertake projects to resolve energy policy challenges in a sustainable and socially equitable manner for both the local community and the world . The Energy Clinic’s focus for its first year will be to work with clients to develop and promote improved models for community solar that maximize the environmental and economic benefits available for the local community . Student clinicians will develop model group net metering and purchase power agreements that will be openly available for community use . Clinicians will also utilize these agreements to collaborate with solar installers and community based organizations to advance one or more community solar projects . Professor Kevin Jones, a former Director of Energy Policy for New York City, who teaches in the clinic, notes that “The Energy Clinic will allow us to expand upon classroom theory and give students the opportunity to develop the actual legal structures for community solar, as well as implement real projects, including spending a day on site installing the solar PV arrays .” Future energy clinic projects will likely be focused on policies to promote both climate change mitigation and adaptation . Future clinicians can expect to work on client projects to support building energy efficiency, electric vehicle infrastructure, and local energy system resiliency . b
A Tesla Roadster was spotted charging up at VLS this summer
E N V I R O N M E N T A L L A W B U L L E T I N F A L L 2 0 1 4 W W W . V E R M O N T L A W . E D U / E L C 7
Zhongnan University of Economics
and Law (ZUEL) in China and Vermont
Law School have signed an agreement to
collaborate on programs that will expand
educational opportunities for students
from both schools and promote exchange
between faculty members. The agreement
includes collaboration on student and faculty
exchanges and training programs, degree
and certificate programs, joint legal research
projects, and publications on environmental
and energy law research and policy
development.
“This partnership reflects our commitment
to developing global leaders,” said Marc Mihaly, president and dean of Vermont
Law School. “We are proud to partner with
Zhongnan University and look forward
to watching as students and faculty from
both institutions work toward influencing
environmental law and policy, both in China
and elsewhere in the world.”
The Zhongnan University delegation was
comprised of Professors Liu Maolin, vice
president; Han Long; Zhang Hong, vice dean
of ZUEL law school; and Jiang He, assistant
dean of ZUEL law school.
VLS, with the support of the U.S. Agency
for International Development, launched the
U.S.-China Partnership in 2006 to advance
environmental governance and rule of
law in China. Now known as the U.S.-Asia
Partnerships for Environmental Law, the
program also administers three environmental
advocacy programs in China funded by
the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL)
in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Kunming. b
VLS PARTNERS WITH ZHONGNAN UNIVERSITY IN CHINA
Marc Mihaly and Liu Maolin
“ THIS PARTNERSHIP REFLECTS OUR COMMITMENT TO DEVELOPING GLOBAL LEADERS. WE ARE PROUD TO PARTNER WITH ZHONGNAN UNIVERSITY AND LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING AS STUDENTS AND FACULTY FROM BOTH INSTITUTIONS WORK TOWARD INFLUENCING ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY, BOTH IN CHINA AND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD.”
—MARC MIHALY, President and Dean
Officials from VLS and Zhongnan at the signing ceremony
V E R M O N T L A W S C H O O L8
NEW NAME, BROADER FOCUS FOR U.S.-ASIA PARTNERSHIPS
The U.S.-China Partnership for
Environmental Law at Vermont Law School is
pleased to announce it is changing its name to
the U.S.-Asia Partnerships for Environmental
Law (PEL). This change comes at a time when
the program is broadening
its geographical focus and
incorporating new partners,
projects, and opportunities.
This expansion of
geographical focus was
demonstrated in July
2014, when PEL began a
series of five multi-day
Environmental Impact
Assessment trainings for
Myanmar’s Ministry of
Environmental Conservation
and Forestry (MOECAF),
and hosted a workshop on
civil society engagement in the EIA process.
Myanmar is finalizing its EIA procedures
and legal framework. In addition, the influx
of investment and development projects in
Myanmar has increased the need to thoroughly
assess the environmental and social impacts
of projects. The EIA trainings are scheduled
to occur monthly through November 2014.
Financial support for the EIA trainings comes
from the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
PEL’s commitment to strengthening
environmental governance in China was
highlighted at Beijing’s Environmental Public
Interest Litigation Roundtable in July. PEL
sponsored the event to launch a project to help
environmental NGOs in China use legal tools,
including the standing provision permitting
NGOs to sue on behalf of the public interest
under the recently revised Environmental
Protection Law, to improve and strengthen
environmental governance and rule of law in
China. At the event, environmental lawyers
and representatives from various NGOs,
such as Friends of Nature and Green Anhui,
and international NGOs, such as Greenpeace
and the Natural Resources Defense Council,
convened to discuss how they would go forth
with public interest litigation in 2015, when the
Environmental Protection
Law will go into force.
Avi Garbow, General
Counsel of the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency, spoke at the event
about the role of citizen
suits in environmental
enforcement in the U.S.
and how they supported
and complemented the
government’s enforcement
efforts. “Citizen enforcement
represents the much
needed opportunity for
engagement,” he said. He also praised
the NGOs in the room for their work
and emphasized the importance of such
organizations, particularly in collaboration, to
enforce environmental regulations. The launch
event is the first step in bringing together
environmental NGOs to help improve China’s
environmental situation and lead the way for a
cleaner future. b
After a national search, Vermont Law
School has hired Jessica Scott ’10 for a two-
year Visiting Assistant Professor position. From
2010–14, she was an attorney in the Office of
General Counsel at U.S. EPA, where she focused
on the Clean Air Act; human rights and the
environment; capacity building in China and
Burkina Faso; and environmental justice.
Scott’s time at EPA included awards and
international exchanges. She received the 2013
Distinguished Environmental Advocates Award
from the American Bar Association Section of
Environment, Energy, and Resources, and the
2012 Trudy Speciner National Honor Award
from EPA, for “exceptional legal analysis,
creativity and leadership to protect human
health and the environment in communities
across the nation and around the world.”
In 2011, she spent two months in Beijing as a
fellow of the American Bar Association’s Rule of
Law Initiative, where she gave presentations on
American environmental laws to China’s Ministry
of Environmental Protection, participated in
academic conferences, and researched and
wrote a report on a groundbreaking Chinese
environmental law case.
She also participated in a two-way exchange
for environmental law professionals in
China and the U.S.,
cosponsored by the
National Committee
on United States-
China Relations,
and the Center for
Legal Assistance to
Pollution Victims at
China University of
Political Science and
Law. The program is
a capacity-building
opportunity for
young environmental
lawyers, government
officials, NGO
representatives, and
other environmental
law professionals.
Her article,
“Cleaning Up the
Dragon’s Fountain: Lessons from the First
Public Interest Lawsuit Brought by a Grassroots
NGO in China” appeared in the George Washington
International Law Review in 2013. Her article, “Move,
or Wait for the Flood and Die: Protection of
Environmentally Displaced Populations through
a New Relocation Law,” is forthcoming in the
JESSICA SCOTT ’10 IS NEW VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Florida A&M University Law Review in 2014.
Scott received her JD degree, magna cum
laude, from VLS in 2010. She received her
BS, cum laude, in International Politics from
Georgetown University. She will teach Air
Pollution Law this spring. b
Jessica Scott
E N V I R O N M E N T A L L A W B U L L E T I N F A L L 2 0 1 4 W W W . V E R M O N T L A W . E D U / E L C 9
Tracy Bach will lead the VLS Observer
Delegation to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change COP20/CMP10,
to be held in Lima, Peru, in December. The ten
students on the delegation, selected from over
50 applicants, will represent the law school
at the international climate change meeting.
Students enroll in a course consisting of a
weekly class for the full semester and one
week on-site at the Conference of the Parties
(COP). At the COP, our students will support
the Myanmar State Party Delegation. Students
will come away from this course with a deeper
understanding of international environmental
lawmaking informed by first-hand experience.
Betsy Baker has been named to the
National Academy of Sciences Polar Bear
Research Board. She is one of the few legal
academics to have served on the board in
its 56-year history. The appointment in part
recognizes her cutting-edge work linking
law and natural sciences in Arctic research.
She presented “Shaping Arctic Policy from
DC to Alaska: The U.S. Continental Shelf and
Offshore Oil and Gas Regulation in America’s
High North,” as part of the Spring 2014 Faculty
Speaker Series at VLS in April. She served on
the panel “Comparison of Current Regulatory
and Liability Regimes in Arctic Coastal
States” in the research workshop, “Arctic
Oil/Gas Drilling: Lessons from the Past and
Implications for the Future,” in recognition of
the 4th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon
Oil Spill, at Duke University Nicholas School of
the Environment, in April.
Laurie Beyranevand ’03 was appointed
to serve on the Food and Drug Law Institute’s
Academic Programs Committee for a three
year term beginning in April 2014. The
Academic Programs Committee advises FDLI
staff in formulating and implementing policies
and strategies consistent with FDLI's mission,
relating to programs and publications of
interest to the academic legal community. She
gave a presentation entitled “Food Labeling
for Health Care Professionals” at the Vermont
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Annual
Meeting in April. She was a faculty member at
the Summer Academy in Global Food Law and
Policy in Bilbao, Spain, where she discussed
the impacts of the Food Safety Modernization Act on the global food supply.
Richard Brooks and Melissa Scanlan
co-authored the book review of Environmental
Protection in Multi-Layered Systems: Comparative
Lessons from the Water Sector, edited by
Mariachiara Alberton and Francesco Palermo,
in Publius: The Journal of Federalism, April 2014.
John Echeverria co-presented (with
Roger Marzulla and Nancie Marzulla) “The
Intersection of Water Rights and Takings
Doctrine” at the 60th Annual Rocky Mountain
Mineral Law Institute in July. He has
established the Takings Litigation Blog at
takingslitigation.com. He served as a panelist
on “What’s New with Constitutional Takings
and Water?” at the 32nd Annual Water Law
Conference, sponsored by the ABA Section of
Environment, Energy, and Resources, in Las
Vegas in June. His conference paper, “Water
and Takings,” was awarded Best Paper. His
article, “Making Sense of Penn Central,” is cited
in a Second Circuit opinion on Sherman v. Town of
Chester, May 16, 2014.
Jackie Gardina presented on
“Environmental Obligation and Enforcement”
at the National Association of Environmental
Professionals 39th Annual Conference,
Changing Tides and Shifting Sands, in April.
Hillary Hoffmann was appointed to the
national Sierra Club Litigation Committee
for a three year term beginning in July 2014.
The committee reviews and approves all
proposed settlements and lawsuits filed by
local chapters and the national organization.
Her article, “Demand Management and Climate
Change in the Great Basin: An Integrated
Approach to Resource Management in an Era
of Armed Conflict Over Grazing on Federal
Lands,” will be published in the George
Washington University Law School’s Journal of
Energy and Environmental Law this fall. In May,
she wrote “The End of the Road for R.S. 2477
Claimants in Canyonlands National Park,” for
the Environmental Law Profs Blog. She presented
“The Real Public Lands Standoff in Nevada:
Unsustainable Livestock Grazing and Climate
Change” at the New England Political Science
Association Annual Meeting in Woodstock,
VT, in April. In July, she began consulting
for the Grand Canyon Trust on constitutional
issues surrounding Utah’s HB 148, the Transfer
of Public Lands Act. She will direct VLS’s
Fifth Annual Colloquium on Environmental
Scholarship on October 4, 2014.
Kevin Jones and Jonathan Blansfield ’14
contributed to a new book edited by Fereidoon
Sioshansi that explores the policy implications
of continued growth of distributed energy
resources. The book, Distributed Generation and
its Implications for the Utility Industry, is published
by Academic Press. Jones and Blansfield’s
chapter, “Industry Response to Revenue
Erosion from Solar PVs,” explores case study
examples from California, Arizona, and
Vermont.
Yanmei Lin published “China’s New
National Rules on Wetland Protection” in IUCN
Academy of Environmental Law E-Journal, Issue
5: 2014, 117 (with Chen Yue); “Toxic Release
Inventory: US Lessons and Experiences for
China” in Journal of Ocean University of China
(Social Sciences Edition), Issue 1: 2014, 86
(with Hou Jiaru); “Environmental Public
Interest Litigation Back to the Beginning
in 2013” in the Annual Report on Environment
Development of China (2014), Social Science
Academic Press, May, 2014, 146 (with Wang
Xiaoxi); and “Improve and Perfect China’s
Government Environmental Information
Disclosure System” in Administration Reform,
Issue 6: 2014 (with Wang Canfa).
Reed Loder published an article, “Toward
Reconciling Environmental and Animal Ethics:
Northeast Wolf Reintroduction,” in 10 Journal of
Animal & Natural Resource Law 95–164 (2014).
Janet Milne co-authored (with Jack Miller)
“Taxation’s Troubling Toxicity,” in the Onãti
Socio-Legal Series, Summer 2014. Her article,
“The Disclosure Debates: Setting the Scene,”
has been accepted for publication in Vermont
Law Review 38, forthcoming in 2014. Her letter
to the editor, “A Carbon Tax and Climate
Change,” appeared in The New York Times on
June 22, 2014.
( continued on page 10 )
ENVIRONMENTAL FACULTY NEWS
Melissa Scanlan, Bob Percival, John Echeverria, Huiyu Zhao, Kevin Begos, and Michael Blumm
Adam Moser LLM’13, Assistant Director
of the U.S.-Asia Partnerships for
Environmental Law, published “The Laws,
Politics, and Policies of Regulating Lead
Pollution in China,” in 9 Frontiers of Law in China
186 (June 2014).
Sean Nolon presented “Managing Land-
Use Disputes” at the American Planning
Association meeting in Atlanta in April. His
article, “Bargaining for Development Post-
Koontz: How the Supreme Court Invaded Local
Government,” was recently accepted by the
Florida Law Review.
Patrick Parenteau testified before the U.S.
House of Representatives Water Resources and
Environment Subcommittee Hearing on “EPA’s
Expanded Interpretation of its Permit Veto
Authority Under the Clean Water Act,” in July.
He worked with students in the Environmental
and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC)
to prepare an amicus brief on behalf of
climate scientists in a case involving use of
the Clean Water Act to address the problem
of ocean acidification. He also worked with
ENRLC students to prepare a petition to the
Federal Trade Commission regarding deceptive
advertising in the use of Renewable Energy
Credits by Vermont utilities.
Rebecca Purdom was granted the 2014
East Africa Environmental Fellowship.
She will be working on anticorruption and
environmental justice issues in East Africa in
October and throughout the 2014–15 academic
year. She was also invited to present at the
International Environmental Law Course in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, in November.
Laurie Ristino moderated the panel
“Geopolitical Context” at the University
of Vermont’s Food Systems Summit, The
Necessary [r]Evolution for Sustainable Food
Systems, in June. VLS’s Center for Agriculture
and Food Systems was a cosponsor of
the event. She presented “The Law and
Building the Infrastructure of the New Food
Movement” at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
event, Harvesting Change: The 2014 Food &
Community Gathering, in Detroit in May. Her
article co-authored with Katie Hannon Michel
’15, “Carbon Trading in the United States,” in
Research Handbook on Climate Change Mitigation Law,
was listed on multiple SSRN Top 10 downloads
in May.
Melissa Scanlan presented “Turning
Urban Sewage into Renewable Energy” on the
Waste and Energy Sources Panel at the 12th
annual Colloquium of the IUCN Academy of
Environmental Law in Tarragona, Spain, in
July. She taught a course on the Wisconsin
Public Trust Doctrine for the University
of Wisconsin-Extension Local Land Use
V E R M O N T L A W S C H O O L
C Ja
y Mai
ln
Planning and Zoning series in April. Her
article, “Adaptive Trading: Experimenting with
Unlikely Partners,” appears in 62 Kansas Law
Review 971 (2014). Her article co-authored by
Jenny Kehl, “Food and Virtual Water in the
Great Lakes States,” appears in 63 DePaul Law
Review 771 (Spring 2014). Both articles are listed
on multiple SSRN Top 10 downloads lists.
Gus Speth presented “40 Years of the
Environmental Movement in 20 Minutes” at
the Coker College Earth Day Festival in April.
His letter to the editor in response to the
front page article, “Scientists Warn of Rising
Oceans from Polar Melt,” was published in the
The New York Times on May 13, 2014. In July, he
presented to the first group of students in
the Middlebury College Environment School
and gave a public lecture in Middlebury, VT,
on the future of the American environmental
movement. His memoir, Angels by the River, will
be published by Chelsea Green Publishers
in October. An excerpt appeared in the
Environmental Law Institute’s 31 Environmental
Forum 40 (September/October).
Jack Tuholske served as a speaker on
“Implementing Constitutional Environmental
Rights in North America,” at the Global
Environmental Constitutionalism event at
Widener University School of Law in April.
His article, “Solving Transboundary Pollution
Disputes Locally: Success in the Crown of the
Continent,” appeared in 92 Oregon Law Review
649 (2014). He was lead counsel in a case just
settled in federal court in Oregon requiring
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to publish a
draft and final Recovery Plan under the ESA
for bull trout (the largest freshwater salmonid)
by September, 2015. In July, he led students in
his Public Lands Management: Montana Field
Study class on numerous treks through the
northern Rockies. b
10
ENVIRONMENTAL FACULTY NEWS ( continued from page 9 )
Patrick Parenteau
Rebecca Purdom
E N V I R O N M E N T A L L A W B U L L E T I N F A L L 2 0 1 4 W W W . V E R M O N T L A W . E D U / E L C 11
SUMMER SESSION FACULTY NEWS Don Baur has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the Shenandoah National Park Trust . In May, he spoke at the annual meeting of the U .S . Marine Mammal Commission in Washington, DC . He spoke at a conference on Tribal Environmental Quality in Morongo, California, to discuss the application of the Endangered Species Act in Indian Country . The American Bar Association will publish the second edition of Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy, authored by Baur, Tim Eichenberg, and Michael Sutton. Baur is a partner at Perkins Coie . Eichenberg is Chief Counsel at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission . Sutton is Executive Director of Audubon California . They co-teach Ocean and Coastal Law at VLS . Tom Lautzenheiser was the lead author of Mass Audubon’s report, “Losing Ground: Planning for Resilience,” released in June, which documents land use change in Massachusetts from 2005–2013 . The report is the fifth edition in the Losing Ground series that has tracked Massachusetts’ development and land conservation trends for over 30 years . The report features an analysis of land use planning regulations in the I-495 corridor, among the regions of the state facing the highest development pressures . Lautzenheiser is the Central/Western Regional Scientist at Massachusetts Audubon Society . He co-teaches Ecology . Catherine MacKenzie is an editor of Law, Tropical Forests and Carbon: The Case of REDD+, along with Rosemary Lyster of the University of Sydney and Constance McDermott of the University of Oxford . The book is published by Cambridge University Press . MacKenzie is a University Lecturer in Environmental Law at Cambridge . She teaches Peace, War, and the Environment at VLS . Thomas McHenry took his VLS students on a field trip to the Elizabeth Mine Superfund site in nearby Strafford, VT .
The class toured the abandoned copper mine as part of his Environmental Aspects of Business Transactions course . McHenry is a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher . Benjamin Sovacool has published numerous articles recently, including “Cornucopia or Curse? Reviewing the Costs and Benefits of Shale Gas Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking),” in Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (September, 2014); “Energy Studies Need Social Science,” in Nature (July 31, 2014); “Exposing the Paradoxes of Climate and Energy Governance,” in International Studies Review (June, 2014); and “Construction Cost Overruns and Electricity Infrastructure: An Unavoidable Risk?” in Electricity Journal (May, 2014) (with VLS students D . Nugent and A . Gilbert) . Sovacool is Director of the Danish Center for Energy Technology at Aarhus University in Denmark . He teaches Global Energy Justice at VLS . Jacqueline Weaver taught a one-week course in May at the Fordham Law School summer program in
Accra, Ghana, on International Petroleum Transactions . She lectured at the International Law Institute’s seminar on “International Oil and Gas Development: Upstream” in Washington, DC, in May . She presented a talk on “Reflections on Best Practices in International Petroleum Practices” at the opening congress of the new LLM program in Energy and Sustainability Law at the University of Nuevo Leon in Monterey, Mexico, in August . She is the A .A . White Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, and teaches Oil and Gas Production and the Environment at VLS . Steven Weissman is co-author, with Romany Webb, of a new report on “Addressing Climate Change without Legislation” issued jointly by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment and the Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute . Weissman is a lecturer-in-residence at Berkeley . He teaches Renewable Energy Law and Policy at VLS . David Wirth’s paper, “The World Trade Organization Dispute over Genetically Modified Organisms: The Precautionary Principle Meets International Trade Law,” was listed on numerous SSRN Top Ten download lists . Wirth is a Professor of Law at Boston College Law School . He teaches International Trade and the Environment at VLS . Steven Wise appeared on The Colbert Report on July 17, where Steven Colbert asked about his arguments for legal “personhood” for chimpanzees and other animals . His work was also featured in a cover story in The New York Times Magazine on April 23 . Wise is the President of the Nonhuman Rights Project . He teaches Animal Rights Jurisprudence . Huiyu Zhao’s translation of “US Environmental Law for the Supreme Court,” co-written with Robert Percival, is forthcoming from China Law Press . Her article, “Controlling Air Pollution and Carbon Emissions by Regulations on Mobile Sources in China and the U .S .” is forthcoming in China’s Journal. Her article, “The Role of Civil Society in Environmental Governance in the United States and China,” co-authored with Percival, appeared in Duke Environmental Law & Policy. Zhao is an Associate Professor of Law at Shanghai Jiaotong University . Percival is a Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental Law Program at the University of Maryland . They co-teach Comparative U .S .-China Environmental Law at VLS . b
Students at the Elizabeth Mine
C A
ustin
Che
ley
37 short, intense classes on topics ranging
from Ecosystem Management to Global Energy
Justice to The Modern Farm Bill
Over 200 students taking classes,
including JD, master’s, and LLM candidates at
VLS; JD students from other law schools; and
visitors from around the world
3 Distinguished Summer Scholars: John
Knox of Wake Forest University and the UN
Human Rights Council; Benjamin Sovacool of
Aarhus University in Denmark; and Sandra
Zellmer of University of Nebraska
SUMMER SESSION: BY THE NUMBERS
44 summer faculty from as far away as
Shanghai and the University of Cambridge,
and from right across campus at Vermont Law
School
17 lectures in the Hot Topics in
Environmental Law brown bag series, covering
electric cars, unnatural disasters, fracking, and
urban agriculture
4 Welcome Receptions—a chance for
students, faculty, and special guests to mingle
and enjoy Vermont microbrews
3 Environmental Law Media Fellows: Kevin
Begos of The Associated Press, Osha Gray
Davidson, author and freelance writer, and
Tom Henry of The Toledo Blade
Jack Tuholske’s Montana Field Study class
11 students trekking through the northern
Rockies in Montana with Jack Tuholske’s
Public Lands Management field study class
1 Tesla Roadster recharging in the VLS
parking lot
many afternoons spent hiking up
Kent’s Ledge, tubing down the White River,
and sampling the wares at Vermont’s farmers’
markets
JOHN BASHAW ’87 has joined Reid and Riege, PC’s Hartford office as a stockholder in the Environmental and Litigation practice areas…
KATE BROWN JD/MSL ’95, Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land, negotiated the purchase of a 1,000 acre forest in Connecticut, the last unprotected coastal forest of its size between New York City and Boston… ALLISON BUCKLEY MELP ’10, Natural Resources Planner with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, created a management plan for 90,000 acres of land purchased by the State of New York in Adirondack Park… ALLISON DENNIS MSEL ’05 is a public affairs specialist with the U.S. EPA… KEITH DENNIS MSEL ’05 is senior principal with National Rural Electric Cooperative Association… GREGORY FRIEND ’01 was named a partner in the Austin law firm of Stahl, Bernal, Davies, Sewell & Chavarria…
CHRIS HALL ’04 was elected as a shareholder of Babst Calland, PC, specializing in energy and natural resources law… REGGIE HALL JD/MSEL ’02, Director of the Land Conservation Loan Program with The Conservation Fund, facilitated the acquisition and creation of the new 4,000-acre Cheat Canyon Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia…
MEGAN HOOKER MSEL ’05, Associate Stewardship Director with American Whitewater, was part of the lead organization behind the removal of the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in Washington State… THERESA LABRIOLA MSEL ’99 is West Coast Fisheries Project Director with Wild Oceans...
VERONIQUE JARREL-KING JD/MELP ’12 was promoted to Assistant Attorney General in the Utah office of the Attorney General’s Environment Division…
CARLOS SORIA RODRIGUEZ LLM ’12 has joined the Environment and Sustainable Development cluster at the Institute for European Studies as a doctoral researcher… LINDSAY WALTON JD/MELP ’12 was appointed to the Urban Forestry Commission by the Mayor of Richmond, Virginia… VERONIKA WARNOCK MSEL ’99, Conservation Director with Hell’s Canyon Preservation Council, got an injunction from the Ninth Circuit to stop logging on a 29,000-acre project area in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. b
VLS ENVIRONMENTAL NEWSFEED
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER
Vermont Law School 164 Chelsea Street South Royalton, VT 05068
800-227-1395 802-831-1140 fax
www.vermontlaw.edu/elc
TAKINGS CONFERENCE 2014 The 17th Annual Conference on Litigating Takings Challenges to Land Use
and Environmental Regulations will take place on September 19, 2014, at the
University of California Davis School of Law. In addition to offering a basic
education in modern takings law, the conference brings together a diverse
group of leading scholars and experienced practitioners to discuss cutting-
edge issues raised by recent decisions and pending court cases. Some of the
topics to be discussed include the practical implications of the Supreme Court's
5 to 4 decision in Koontz v. St. Johns Water Management District for state and local
government land use standards and procedures. Other major topics will include
the potential takings issues associated with water management and possible
takings claims that may arise from efforts to adapt to climate change. The
conference will feature a keynote address in honor of Joseph Sax, “Joe Sax: An
Appreciation,” presented by Holly Doremus of UC Berkeley School of Law.b
15TH GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL TAXATION The Environmental Tax Policy Institute at VLS is a cosponsor of the
15th Global Conference on Environmental Taxation. This year’s conference,
“Environmental Taxation and Emissions Trading in an Era of Climate Change,”
will be hosted by Aarhus University in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September
24–26, 2014. The conference is a unique forum for people to share analyses
of the theory and practice of environmental taxation and other market-based
instruments. If you would like to be added to the mailing list for the conference
series, please send an email to Professor Janet Milne, the institute’s director, at
[email protected], with the caption “mailing list.” b
COLLOQUIUM ON ENVIRONMENTAL SCHOLARSHIP Vermont Law School’s
Fifth Annual Colloquium on
Environmental Scholarship will take
place on October 3-4, 2014. This
year’s colloquium has almost doubled
in size compared to previous years,
and is the largest colloquium dedicated to environmental law in the country.
Professor Hillary Hoffmann is coordinating the event. “The colloquium provides
a unique forum for environmental law scholars from around the world to meet
and discuss current environmental issues over a three-day period,” she says.
“It is a proving ground of sorts, where scholars can receive structured feedback
on their ideas, prior to publication. This year, we are particularly excited about
hosting a larger number of international scholars, who will be presenting on
issues such as groundwater management in urban Africa, ecological impacts of
the Naxal conflict in India, and climate change litigation in Australia. We are also
thrilled to have Carol Browner give our keynote address.” b
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNAL ANNOUNCES WRITING COMPETITION The Vermont Journal of Environmental
Law has announced the first annual
White River Environmental Law Writing
Competition. The winning essay will
receive a $1000 cash prize and an offer
of publication in the Vermont Journal
of Environmental Law. All students at
accredited United States law schools are
invited to submit original articles that
address a relevant topic in environmental
law. Additional submission requirements and deadlines can be found on
the journal’s website, http://vjel.vermontlaw.edu. The winning entry will be
announced in January 2015. b
The 2014–15 VJEL Editorial Board: Jack Hornickel, Thea Graybill, Libby Bowker, Andy Minikowski, Crystal Abbey, Megan Backsen, Scott Lake
FALL 2014 EVENTS